Led By A Zach Werenski 4 Point Night, The Columbus Blue Jackets End the 2023-24 Season By Beating The Carolina Hurricanes
Luca Del Bel Belluz(1), James Malatesta(2), Johnny Gaudreau(12), Alex Nylander(11), and Zach Werenski(10,11) poured on the goals for the Blue Jackets in a win over Carolina. Meanwhile, Jet Greaves played an amazing game stopping 38 shots, including a whopping 15 Hurricane power play shots.
Zach Werenski tied the record for most points in a season by a CBJ defenseman and Luca Del Bel Belluz scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL shift, to highlight some of the moments in game 82 for the Jackets.
Carolina parked 37 million dollars in players in the press box, as this game meant nothing to them. They're gearing up for a deep playoff run and it will start against the New York Islanders.
To the Jackets, no, in the grand scheme of things, this game meant nothing. But to many of the players including Del Bel Belluz and Gavin Brindley, who also made his NHL debut, it meant the world. In front of a Nationwide Arena crowd of over 17,000, they went out and beat the Carolina Hurricanes, and that is all they wanted.
Tuesday also marked the final call for Jeff Rimer, the legendary play-by-play man who is now retired. They honored Rimer with a video tribute, and then the crowd started chanting his name. There will now be a huge void in the TV coverage for Columbus, one that will be hard to fill.
Before the game, Jeff was in the locker room and announced the starters to the team. He challenged Zach Werenski to go out and get four points, well Zach did just that. Watch that below.
You can hear Jeff's final call below.
Final Stats
cbj appPlayers Stats
- Luca Del Bel Belluz scored his first NHL goal on Tuesday. He had 9:35 of ice time.
- James Malatesta scored his 2nd NHL goal. He had two goals in his last two games.
- Alex Nylander scored his 11th goal of the season.
- Johnny Gaudreau scored his 12th goal on the season. He was a +4 on the night.
- Zach Werenski scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season. He also had 2 assists and was a +5. His four points tied him with Seth Jones for points by a defenseman in a season with 57.
- Mathieu Olivier had 2 assists and 5 hits.
- Erik Gudbranson had 2 assists and was a +2
- Gavin Brindley made his NHL debut and played 12:20.
Team Stats
- The Jackets power play went 0/2 on the night. They could only generate three shots on the pp.
- The Blue Jackets PK went 4/5, allowing 1 goal. The Canes were able to get off 16 shots while on the power play.
- Columbus won 50% of the faceoffs.
What's Next - The Jackets own the 4th best odds to land the top pick in the upcoming NHL Draft Lottery, which will be held on May 6th or 7th.
More From THN Columbus
Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.